I guess it was inevitable that, with eight episodes to fill in this labyrinthine flashback mystery, 'The Missing' would have to move away from the intimate family setting with which it began. Nevertheless, last week's concentration on Molly and her revenge plot was starting to make things feel a bit episodic.
This week, however, brought the plot sharply back to the backbone of Tony Hughes, his wife Emily and just what caused the chasm between them that we see in the present day. Because it turned out that, with Ian Garrett's disappearance, Emily was forced to lie for her husband, while suspecting the worse. Good news for actress Frances O'Connor, who had a lot more to do than in the previous couple of weeks.
Tony and Emily Hughes seemed to be one step nearer to finding out what happened to their son
Meanwhile, James Nesbitt was able to vent even more than usual, painting a rabid portrait of a man in agony with the knowledge that he'd killed a man in error, that his hunt for his son's whereabouts remained futile, that his revenge was incomplete, and that his wife could only be comforted by another man. Not a great day, all in all.
And if all that wasn't bad enough, Julien Baptise, the man on whom it seems all salvation could depend, was suddenly a victim himself, with the latter-day limp finally explained.
For Tony Hughes, the disappearance of Ian Garrett signified another false trail and futile revenge
In the present day, things were looking up, however, with a man behind a bar offering his information for the small sum of 15,000 euros. Compared with everything they'd lost before, this suddenly seemed like relatively small potatoes. Can't think why her new husband Mark wouldn't think this is a good idea…
